Christian Fellowship Community Group
A safe place for Christians who Love Jesus Christ to meet and ask for prayer and share scriptures from the bible. We value the posting of Christian music, poems, stories and also personal testimonies. Please let us know your needs, concerns and have some fun getting to know each other. We treat each other with respect.
THE CREATIVE POWER OF FAITH
Faith is "a conviction of things we don't see. In Roman 4 we read of the faith of Abraham and at the same time of the creative power of God "who calls things which do not exist as though they did". Faith is related to this power, for it means to take a position that calls not existing things into existence. Only this position is true faith. A faith that wants to see before deciding to believe, is no faith at all, but complete unbelief, that robs God of His honour. This fact can't be mentioned often enough, because in regard to the divine we are by nature quite unbelieving. How trusting, however, yes, gullible are people with each other: all business is done on the basis of faith; but our natural self is hostile towards God and finds it hard, if not impossible, to believe Him. This sinful unbelief must first be removed through the blood of Jesus, before the Holy Spirit can make us alive to new faith, for the unbelief towards God has been deeply ingrained in our nature, ever since the Fall into sin.
While God demands faith from us, He is also more than willing to grant this faith. When people promise us something, we usually thank them even before we see any signs of the promised, but few act the same with God. "Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that it is granted to you, and you will receive it." (Mark 11.24) The same moment we pray, based on the divine promises, we should believe that God answered and "calls things that do not exist" as an answer to our prayer. It is not said that He will do it or wants to do it, but that He accomplishes it the same moment, while we proceed to praise and thank Him.
Although that is true, there are important preconditions. We read in 1. John 5: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him. God can't give us true faith, if we don't pray in accordance with His will. Therefore, we must look for certainty in the Word of God, before we can become able to approach Him trustfully.
When God saved me from a terminal illness, He taught me His method of faith healing, so that He could use me later as His instrument for others. I had been totally ignorant of these things, but the Holy Spirit open the Word of God to me and the teaching of faith healing. I was prayed for and I felt God commanding me to stand up, but at the same time the enemy whispered to me that I could and should not do it. A heavy burden pressed down on my soul and it was like a battle between light and darkness. After that, God showed me that I had to decide who I wanted to obey and that He himself would fight and win victory on my stead, as soon as I stood with my will on His side. When I did that, the Lord gave me His faith and made me able to rise from my sickbed in His name. I was healed that very moment, but my strength returned only gradually and my weak body was still testing my faith for some time. Then a small voice whispered to me that I should not look to the wind and waves - my feelings - but only to Christ.
These truth are not only for the sick who look for healing, but also for every child of God that longs for divine blessings. If we seek justification or sanctification, we must take our stand on the Word of God and accept it in faith before we can experience it.
Of course, the precondition is always our perfect surrender, otherwise the Spirit can not create this faith in us. Total submission and willingness to walk in the light are the conditions, before we can take God at His Word that the precious blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin. If we stand on this fact without doubting, the testimony of the Spirit will confirm it.
(by M. von Brasch)
Faith is "a conviction of things we don't see. In Roman 4 we read of the faith of Abraham and at the same time of the creative power of God "who calls things which do not exist as though they did". Faith is related to this power, for it means to take a position that calls not existing things into existence. Only this position is true faith. A faith that wants to see before deciding to believe, is no faith at all, but complete unbelief, that robs God of His honour. This fact can't be mentioned often enough, because in regard to the divine we are by nature quite unbelieving. How trusting, however, yes, gullible are people with each other: all business is done on the basis of faith; but our natural self is hostile towards God and finds it hard, if not impossible, to believe Him. This sinful unbelief must first be removed through the blood of Jesus, before the Holy Spirit can make us alive to new faith, for the unbelief towards God has been deeply ingrained in our nature, ever since the Fall into sin.
While God demands faith from us, He is also more than willing to grant this faith. When people promise us something, we usually thank them even before we see any signs of the promised, but few act the same with God. "Therefore I say to you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that it is granted to you, and you will receive it." (Mark 11.24) The same moment we pray, based on the divine promises, we should believe that God answered and "calls things that do not exist" as an answer to our prayer. It is not said that He will do it or wants to do it, but that He accomplishes it the same moment, while we proceed to praise and thank Him.
Although that is true, there are important preconditions. We read in 1. John 5: "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him. God can't give us true faith, if we don't pray in accordance with His will. Therefore, we must look for certainty in the Word of God, before we can become able to approach Him trustfully.
When God saved me from a terminal illness, He taught me His method of faith healing, so that He could use me later as His instrument for others. I had been totally ignorant of these things, but the Holy Spirit open the Word of God to me and the teaching of faith healing. I was prayed for and I felt God commanding me to stand up, but at the same time the enemy whispered to me that I could and should not do it. A heavy burden pressed down on my soul and it was like a battle between light and darkness. After that, God showed me that I had to decide who I wanted to obey and that He himself would fight and win victory on my stead, as soon as I stood with my will on His side. When I did that, the Lord gave me His faith and made me able to rise from my sickbed in His name. I was healed that very moment, but my strength returned only gradually and my weak body was still testing my faith for some time. Then a small voice whispered to me that I should not look to the wind and waves - my feelings - but only to Christ.
These truth are not only for the sick who look for healing, but also for every child of God that longs for divine blessings. If we seek justification or sanctification, we must take our stand on the Word of God and accept it in faith before we can experience it.
Of course, the precondition is always our perfect surrender, otherwise the Spirit can not create this faith in us. Total submission and willingness to walk in the light are the conditions, before we can take God at His Word that the precious blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin. If we stand on this fact without doubting, the testimony of the Spirit will confirm it.
(by M. von Brasch)
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